Article

Technology, desire to connect with customer drives Buffalo Wild Wings' success

Based on customer research and feedback, Buffalo Wild Wings invested significantly in defining, delivering and enhancing its brand experience using technology.

November 14, 2014 by Brenda Rick Smith — Editor, Networld Media Group

Listening to what its customers want has led Buffalo Wild Wings to extend its brand experience through a variety of technologies and digital platforms, according to President and CEO Sally Smith.

Technology and sensitivity for customer experience began shaping the culture of Buffalo Wild Wings in its infancy, she told the crowd gathered for her keynote address at the recent President's Conference sponsored by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association.

Not long after the first Buffalo Wild Wings was opened near the campus of The Ohio State University, founders Jim Disbow and Scott Lowery realized their guests wanted to watch Ohio State football games on the restaurant's lone TV while they enjoyed their wings.  The young entrepreneurs listened and -- eager to please their guests -- quickly obliged.

With that flip of the channel, Buffalo Wild Wings' identity began to take shape.

"It was their desire to satisfy their guests that helped us find our sports niche," she said.

The focus on satisfying the sports-minded guests has worked. Buffalo Wild Wings, which has grown from that single Ohio restaurant to 1,040 locations in the US, Mexico and Canada, posted average weekly sales for company-owned stores of $59,643 in Q3, a 7.3-percent increase over last year. 

Tuning in

Buffalo Wild Wings continues to keep a pulse on what its guests want through research and listening, Smith explained.

"We have a robust research and analytics function and we've done extensive research to analyze shifts in demographics and other factors that could affect the dynamics of the experience. We stay in tune with lifestyles, social patterns, and how human connection is evolving through technology," she said.

But Buffalo Wild Wings places the most emphasis on studying their core guests, whom they have dubbed "MVPs."

Smith describes MVPs as outgoing, enthusiastic, well-rounded, digitally savvy and sports centric. Buffalo Wild Wings relies on this group for feedback on its ideas.

Around 10,000 Buffalo Wild Wings MVPs have opted in to "The Huddle," a focus group of sorts. Buffalo Wild Wings runs new ideas by them – for example, new promotions or ads – and solicits their feedback. And The Huddle is eager to give its feedback, with open rates on emails sent to the group reaching as high as 83 percent.

The Huddle itself is a hallmark of how loyal Buffalo Wild Wings's MVPs are, said Smith, since members opt-in to join and receive nothing in return for their feedback other than a "thank you" and perhaps a sneak peek at new programs.

Buffalo Wild Wings' research into its customers has yielded four main digital experience platforms:

Tablets. By the end of the year, 75 percent of all Buffalo Wild Wings will have tablets on guest tables for ordering and engagement.

The tablets will do more than provide guests the ability to place orders and pay; they will also be loaded up with arcade games and quick access to sports scores. A social jukebox feature is also in the works which will allow guests to pick the music that plays in the restaurant.

Guests are driving the tablet choice, said Smith. Sixty percent of Buffalo Wild Wings' guests are between the ages of 18 and 49, a group which prefers technology for speed and convenience.

Enhanced fantasy sports and competitive gaming.When consumer research revealed that half of all sports fans who watch sports use a smartphone, tablet or computer while they are watching games, Buffalo Wild Wings saw an opportunity to connect with those fans whether they were in its restaurants or at home.

It launched Game Break, a platform which allows guests to compete in variety of fantasy sports games on their mobile devices, online, or on the Buffalo Wild Wings tablets. The Game Break platform also offers Game Break Live, a trivia game available for play exclusively in Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants during live sporting events. Players earn points and win prizes.

So far, Game Break has 82,000 registered users and has been downloaded 57,000 times. Fans played 150,000 games through the first eight weeks of the National Football League season.

"Game Break makes the sports experience more interactive and helps extend the Buffalo Wild Wings experience beyond the restaurant. Anytime you can get a fan to interact with your brand outside the restaurant on an ongoing basis, you have an opportunity to build loyalty," said Smith. "We're very excited about how Game Break can help drive performance by creating more reasons for our guests to visit our restaurants."

B-Dubs TV Network. Buffalo Wild Wings is currently testing a proprietary television network in limited markets. The network's content will only be available at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants.

Content may include locally-relevant content, such as live streaming local high school games or showing highlight reels, said Smith.

Buffalo Wild Wings also launched the first-ever branded IHeartRadio channel recently. The channel will feature music and sports commentary.

Immersive Experience. Buffalo Wild Wings is also experimenting with other technologies that answer unmet customer needs, such as charging stations, Smith added. Other experiments underway: personalized sound and mobile payments.

Using digital platforms to build loyalty

Smith anticipates that the knowledge gained about customers through the company's digital experience platforms will be key in the development and launch of the brand's loyalty program, which is expected to begin testing next year with an anticipated launch in 2016.

Buffalo Wild Wings doesn't want their loyalty program to simply be transactional, said Smith, they want to use the program to build emotional connections with guests and give them a reason to visit.

"The key to any relationship is to personalize it, and digital technology gives us insights into what, when, and where our guests are engaging with us," she said. "Our team members will know our guests' favorite teams, their favorite sports, and their favorite sauces, and we can use this information to improve the restaurant experience for our guests, tailored to the things that add value."

About Brenda Rick Smith

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Brenda has more than 20 years of experience as a marketing and public relations professional. She invested most of her career telling the story of entrepreneurial non-profit organizations, particularly through social media.

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